Firm chief to accountants: be honest and transparent

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

MTN Ghana Chief Financial Officer Modupe Kadri has urged accountants to reconnect with the value system and uphold financial ethics.

He spoke at the National Conference of Muslim Professional Accountants’ Association of Nigeria (MPAN) at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

He said accountants should imbibe leadership trait by being honest, humble and transparent in their dealings.

He said: “I think the starting point is that they need to know the roles and responsibilities that leadership has placed on them. They should reconnect with our value system.

“When we are growing up in school, the curricula included all those value systems, but it seems now everything is thrown into the dustbin as it were today. Everybody thinks the end justifies the means, whereas you have to be careful about what means you are using to achieve your end.

“You will still find out that when people are placed in the position of responsibility, they abuse it because they have not reconnected back to the value system.”

The guest lecturer and Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Prof Ishaq Akintola, urged the professionals to uphold ethic standard in their dealings.

Accountants, he said, hold the key to transparency.

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Akintola said: “They are like police who see where crimes are committed and take action. But where they look away, then there will be corruption in both high and low places.

“We are very much concerned that all ministries in this country have accountants, all department and all agencies have accountants and there is wide spread of corruption because it has become endemic in our country. We are very much concerned, our messages to auditors, accountants is to sit up; the war against corruption is the responsibilities of all of us. Unless we all cooperate and unite to fight corruption, government may find it difficult to hold down corrupt people.”

The Head of Assurance Ernst and Young (EY) Nigeria, Jamiu Olakisan, enjoined MPAN members to equip themselves with 21st century accounting skills in order to be relevant.

MPAN President Abdul Mumeen Muhibudeen Ajadi lamented that despite the introduction of Cooperate Governance to regulate financial institutions, many companies do not abide by the policy.